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CNN Live Event/Special
Former Trump Rivals Push For Re-Election At RNC; Donald Trump's Unseen Empathy; Father Dies Protecting Family; Donald Trump's Life Spared; Trump Rally An Experience To Remember. Aired 10-11p ET
Aired July 16, 2024 - 22:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[22:00:01]
ABBY PHILLIP, CNN HOST: He gave her nothing, he gave her supporters nothing, and she's still here.
DANA BASH, CNN HOST: She gave that speech through gritted teeth.
PHILLIP: Yes.
BASH: And he had a pretty blank look on his face. As one of her big supporters texted me during the speech, she did not kiss the ring the way he expects and it's going to take a while for that to --
DAVID URBAN, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: But I'd still say to echo what Scott said earlier, big tent night here, big tent, GOP is happy.
JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: Yes, so more high profile speakers and big convention moments are still right ahead.
This is CNN's live coverage of the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Donald Trump in the house as his party comes together for a second night making the case that voters should send the former president back to the White House.
Let's bring in CNN's Kristen Holmes, who covers the Trump campaign for us. Kristen, what was the reaction from the Trump campaign to the speeches a short while ago by former Trump rivals Nikki Haley and Governor Ron DeSantis?
KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Jake, when it comes to Nikki Haley, Donald Trump and his team got exactly what they needed from her, which is a full-throated endorsement. I spoke to one person asking them what they made of the speech. They said, I stopped listening after I heard the word, endorsed. Another senior adviser told me, Ron and Nikki made it clear, it is DJT, Donald Trump Jr.'s -- excuse me, I think Donald John Trump's party.
They needed Nikki Haley to come out here and endorse him tonight. Remember this, she only won two primaries, but she continued to get tens of thousands of votes from Republicans even after she had dropped out of the race. Those votes, many of them in critical battleground states, like Arizona, like Pennsylvania. They were thrilled at the fact that she had directly addressed those supporters and that she told them to go vote for Donald Trump. They were thrilled at the fact that she made it a binary choice. That is something Donald Trump and his team have tried to do, and that is something that Nikki Haley did tonight, and that is why they wanted her on that stage tonight.
TAPPER: All right. Kristen Holmes, thanks so much.
Let's go to Phil Mattingly now, who's getting more reaction to the Haley and DeSantis speeches on the floor of the convention hall. Phil?
PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN CHIEF DOMESTIC CORRESPONDENT: Yes Jake, it was fascinating not just to listen to delegates here on the floor, the audience up in the sands, but also to watch the VIP box where the former president is sitting, and sitting once again next to his vice presidential candidate, J.D. Vance. After Nikki Haley's speech was over, Vance looked over to Trump and said, that was good, you could see him mouth it, and Trump seemed to agree.
In the audience, in the crowd, there was some combination of kind of ambivalence and unsure necessarily what to do for at least the opening portion of Ambassador Haley's remarks. But I think there was also a recognition of the importance of the message that she was delivering, that kind of got there towards the end.
DeSantis, Ron DeSantis, governor of Florida, very different. The crowd response from the very beginning was very enthusiastic. You kind of saw almost the Ron DeSantis before his presidential campaign when he was so central to the Republican Party and its perceived future before the former president steamrolled him in the primary. The former president's face as he stood up to welcome Ron DeSantis in, it changed a pretty wide smile when DeSantis made clear how effusive he planned to praise Trump and the endorsement for that.
As you look into the VIP box, I've been going back and forth between delegates, VIP boxes, I sit just under the box, just under you guys, as well as I stare at your back, Jake, is the people that are coming in and out and what they necessarily mean for the inner circle. Trump's obviously sitting next to the vice presidential candidate, J.D. Vance. We've also seen Jim Jordan, his close ally at Capitol Hill, Ben Carson, who's about to speak in just a little bit. As we've seen them kind of cycle in and out, allies, throughout the course of the day, it's very clear unity is the message they wanted to get across. They're definitely doing that, and the former president seems to be welcoming it.
Just one last point I want to make. The most interesting thing I've been watching throughout the course of this night, it's a little bit like a Catholic mass in terms of when people are standing and when they are sitting. When the former president stands, everybody in the VIP box stands with him. When he sits down, they all sit down as well.
So, if you're wondering with the standing ovation, where it came from, what they're taking their cues from, it's a little bit like a priest in church, it's Donald Trump.
TAPPER: All right. Phil Mattingly, thanks so much.
Let's bring back the panel. URBAN: I'd say Phil's analysis is probably correct, right? Trump rallies are a little, a little religion, a little rock -- we're missing the rock tonight, but it's a little bit of everything.
CHRIS WALLACE, CNN ANCHOR: Another way you could compare it is to the Kremlin, and when the leader of the Kremlin stood, everybody stood, and when he sat down, everybody sat down. But it is -- I've been watching right over our shoulder, and it is absolutely true when Trump stands up, which he did, for DeSantis, everybody stood up. And, in fact, at one point he sat down and Vance hadn't seen it, so he kept standing down until he saw the Trump hat.
[22:05:02]
TAPPER: Just so you know what's going on, just to let our viewers know what's going on right now, one of the things that the convention's doing is sprinkling with what is called Everyday Americans, EDAs, Everyday Americans giving their stories. I'm sorry?
KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: I didn't know EDAs was a thing.
TAPPER: What says it on my -- it says on --
URBAN: From the commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
COLLINS: I think you just invented something.
TAPPER: EDAs, so these EDAs are speaking right now, people who have been touched in many ways by President Biden in a negative way is the theme. And since tonight's theme is specifically make America safe once again, some of the people that we're hearing from are individuals whose families have been wrecked by opioids or fentanyl, one individual speaking who's had a family member killed by an illegal immigrant, somebody else a violent crime testimonial, and this is, again, very much in keeping with the theme of the evening.
And, Kaitlan Collins, I mean, this has been something that has been a theme of Donald Trump's public life, talking about crime way back when he took a full page ad erroneously faulting the Central Park Five for crimes that they actually did not do. But this is certainly since he came down the escalator in 2015, the idea of crime, of illegal immigration, a big part of Trump's political DNA.
COLLINS: It is a big part of it because they're trying to tap into something with voters, even though when you look at the numbers of crime in big cities that Trump always talks about and rails against, Washington, New York when he was there for his trial, you've actually seen the numbers taking a different trend. I mean, we've seen Daniel Dale talk about that a lot, but they think it's effective.
I will say that each day of this, this convention has a theme to it. Obviously, that's the theme for today, but it does seem overshadowed by what else is happening on each of these days. Yesterday, was obviously the Vance pick and seeing Donald Trump walk out with that bandage on his ear. I was just down there. I was by the South Carolina delegation when Ambassador Haley was speaking. I ran over to the Florida delegation when governor DeSantis was speaking. It was interesting to watch. The delegations of these two figures who both castigated Donald Trump said he was unfit for office. Ron DeSantis said he doesn't think that Donald Trump could beat Joe Biden, and then making that argument on stage.
And I talked to the governor of South Carolina briefly. He's a big Trump ally. And he was pushing Nikki Haley's speech, saying that he thought that she did a good job of basically trying to invite those Nikki Haley voters into the Trump tent. Do they actually come? Obviously, we know the Biden campaign has been trying to lure them as well, so we'll see.
TAPPER: Let's listen in to Anne Fundner her family, she's an everyday American, her family has a very moving story to tell about opioids and fentanyl. Let's listen in.
ANNE FUNDNER, SON DIED FROM FENTANYL-LACED PILLS: Hi, my name is Anne Fundner, and I am the wife and mother of four children. I'm standing here today to share the tragic reality of open borders. I'm here to share the story of my first born son, my everything, my Weston.
My family and I were living in Southern California when President Biden took office and opened our borders. My Weston was 15. He was an amazing big brother to his three younger siblings. Weston attended church twice a week, played football and hockey, and he loved to surf. He had a big heart and he lived to make people laugh. He had so many good friends. And I was always vigilant to be the best mother that I could be.
I was room mom, school ambassador, and I attended all of his sports. We had family dinners and barbecues at the beach. And like most teenagers, Weston wanted to fit in. And in a moment of peer pressure, he tried something that someone gave to him and it took my baby's life. We did everything right. I had those conversations with him and fentanyl still found my son.
And on February 27th, 2022, our lives were shattered, and our baby was gone. This was not an overdose. It was a poisoning. His whole future, everything we ever wanted for him was ripped away in an instant, and Joe Biden does nothing. I hold Joe Biden, Kamala Harris, the borders are, what a joke, and Gavin Newsom and every Democrat who supports open borders responsible for the death of my son.
[22:10:00]
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
FUNDNER: Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
And the tens of thousands of American innocent children, for that alone, they should be voted out of office.
Yes, Joe must go. Yes, he must.
Joe must go, absolutely.
We have seen the highest number of fentanyl deaths during the Biden- Harris administration and fentanyl is now the number one killer of Americans ages 18 to 45, and it is quickly becoming the leading cause of death for teens 14 and under being the fastest growing demographic.
We need President Trump back in office.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
FUNDNER: We need a president who will seal the border, aggressively prosecute drug dealers and stop Communist China from poisoning our children.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
FUNDNER: This is not a red or blue issue. This is a red, white, and blue issue. And fentanyl doesn't care if you're black or white. It does not discriminate. This is an American issue. We need a president who will call the drug cartels what they are, terrorist organizations.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
FUNDNER: This fight is not for me. My son is gone. This fight is for your children. We owe it to our children to elect a president who will win the war against fentanyl once and for all.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
FUNDNER: It's too late for my son, Weston. Say his name, Joe Biden, Weston. Thank you.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
FUNDNER: Thank you.
But we can change this for your children. We need President Trump back to save the lives of our kids.
Thank you. Thank you. God bless America.
ANNOUNCER: Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome the Morin family from Maryland.
MICHAEL MORIN, RACHEL MORIN'S BROTHER: Last year, we lost my beloved sister, Rachel. She went for a walk in one of our family's favorite places. This beautiful trail was to us a safe place where we pushed our babies in strollers, where we walked together as a family, where my wife and I got married, near what would later become the spot where my sister's body was found.
Rachel, a joyful, accomplished athlete and mother of five, was raped and murdered by a suspected illegal immigrant.
[22:15:15]
This was described as among the most brutal and violent offenses that has ever occurred in Harford County, Maryland history.
Open borders are often portrayed as compassionate and virtuous. But there is nothing compassionate about allowing violent criminals into our country and robbing children of their mother.
(APPLAUSE)
MORIN: My sister's death was preventable. The monster arrested for killing Rachel entered the U.S. unlawfully after killing a woman in El Salvador. Joe Biden and his designated borders are Kamala Harris opened our borders to him and others like him, empowering them to victimize the innocent. Yet, to this day, we have not heard from Joe Biden or Kamala Harris.
(BOOING)
MORIN: They never apologized. But when Rachel was killed, President Trump called my family to offer his condolences.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
MORIN: He wanted to meet with us. He cared. That is leadership.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
MORIN: And we need real leadership back in the White House.
What has gotten us through this unthinkable loss is our faith in Jesus Christ.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
MORIN: And as brutal as the murder of my sister was, I pray that her killer will find Jesus Christ.
(APPLAUSE)
MORIN: For all the affected by senseless tragedy, I pray for peace, knowing that all things work together for good, to those who love God, to those who are called according to his purpose.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
MORIN: I pray that we hold worldly leaders accountable for safety and justice for innocent people. I pray that we make our country safe and secure in the memory of my sister, Rachel, who loved life.
Thank you. God bless America. Good night.
ANNOUNCER: Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome Madeline Brame from New York.
MADELINE BRAME, CRIMINAL JUSTICE REFORM ADVOCATE: Good evening, everyone. My son, Sergeant Hassan Korea, an Afghanistan war retired veteran, he received enemy fire from the Taliban only to be murdered with a knife on the streets of New York City. The four assailants responsible for his death initially were facing justice, but that changed when District Attorney Alvin Bragg was elected.
(BOOING)
BRAME: Suddenly, two of the homicidal maniacs responsible for my son's death had their gang assault and murder charges completely dismissed.
(BOOING)
[22:20:00]
BRAME: One of them received 14 months time served. Alvin Bragg charged her with assault with a shoe (ph). And another one was sentenced to seven years.
I later learned that Alvin Bragg often dismisses and reduces dangerous criminals. He wants to clear the jails and return violent felons on to our streets every day.
The injustice was devastating for me and my family. I don't want anyone else to experience the senseless pain that many other victims across this United States of America have to live with every day. So I decided to use the voice that God gave me to be the voice for the voiceless across America.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
BRAME: We need justice for victims and we need accountability for prosecutors who failed in their duty. Soft on crime prosecutors like Alvin Bragg in New York, Kim Foxx in Chicago, and George Gascon in Los Angeles have turned our great country and cities into war zones.
Poor and neglected communities like mine are suffering. And who else in here is sick and tired of being sick and tired?
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
BRAME: The Democratic Party that poor minorities have been loyal to for decades, including myself, all right, they betrayed us. They stabbed us in the back. Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, who claim to represent us, have abandoned us. They neglected the poor minority communities across America.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
BRAME: But my eyes have been opened, just like so many other poor minorities across America. Donald Trump shares our values, love of God and family and country. He's been a victim of the same corrupt system that I have been and my family has been. He is committed to providing economic opportunities, helping those suffering from addiction with long-term inpatient drug programs, rolling back deadly bail reform policies that are getting our children killed every single day and supporting our police. We back the NYPD. We back the blue. (CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
BRAME: Back the blue, NYPD, back the blue.
Trump was right when he said, they're after us. He's just standing in the way.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
BRAME: And guess what? He always will.
That's why I'm standing with him today. Let's make America safe again.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
BRAME: And re-elect our Donald J. Trump.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
BRAME: Thank you and good night.
[22:25:00]
ANNOUNCER: Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
GOV. SARAH HUCKABEE SANDERS (R-AR): Thank you. What a powerful story to follow. Good evening. I'm Sarah Huckabee Sanders.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
SANDERS: And before I get started, I want to say I have always been proud to stand with President Trump. But never have I been more proud than to stand with him right now, tonight.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
SANDERS: Not even an assassin's bullet could stop him.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
SANDERS: God Almighty intervened because America is one nation under God, and he is certainly not finished with President Trump.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
SANDERS: And our country is better for it.
I am here tonight as America's youngest governor, the first --
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
SANDERS: The first woman to lead the great state of Arkansas.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
SANDERS: And most importantly, a mom to three amazing kids, Scarlett, Huck, George.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
SANDERS: When I was President Trump's White House press secretary --
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
SANDERS: -- the best job, I got the chance to take my four-year-old son, Huck, to Bring Your Kid to Work Day much like Jill now drags Joe to Bring Your Husband to Work Day.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
SANDERS: And while I was briefing the president on the upcoming event in the Oval Office, all of the kids who were attending that day gathered in the Rose Garden, getting ready to meet him. And we were walking out onto that beautiful, perfect colonnade. And I saw out of the corner of my eye that my son, Huck, was running full speed directly at the president of the United States.
Being the gracious person he is, President Trump bent down to give him a big hug. And right in front of everyone, Huck sidestepped the president, completely ignoring him in front of everyone, and ran straight into my arms.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
SANDERS: For my four-year-old son, the most powerful man in the world had nothing on his mom.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
SANDERS: But because he's the amazing man he is, President Trump didn't mind at all. After all, he's a dad to five unbelievable kids and a grandfather to ten.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
SANDERS: And while that story is certainly a special memory for my family, it's an even greater reminder why I support President Trump, not for me, not for him, but for my kids and for yours.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
SANDERS: Under President Trump, America was safer. The world was safer. And it felt like the next generation would have a chance at the American dream. President Trump did the job that Kamala won't and Joe Biden simply can't.
[22:30:12]
(APPLAUSE)
When we're honest, every American knows that we were so much better off under President Trump.
(APPLAUSE)
So tonight, I don't want to just speak about President Trump's successful policies, while there are many, I want to talk about the man that I know. When the President hired me, I was the first mom and only the third woman to ever serve as the White House Press Secretary.
(APPLAUSE)
And in that role, I endured relentless attacks from the left. I was insulted as a guest at the White House Correspondents' Dinner. My family was denied service and kicked out of a restaurant.
(BOOING)
And a parent at my three-year-old son's preschool spit on my car. And in those moments, it was President Trump who defended me. And when an MSNBC host, the author of several books on empowering women, said I was unfit to be a mother, and another MSNBC host said I was vile, not even human, and that I should be choked.
(BOOING)
MSNBC again did nothing. But our President pulled me aside, looked me in the eye, and said, Sarah, you're smart, you're beautiful, you're tough, and they attack you because you're good at your job. Never let them stop fighting.
(APPLAUSE)
Thank you, Mr. President. Thank you. That's the Donald Trump that I know. And that's the Donald J. Trump I will always respect.
The left doesn't care about empowering women. Biden and Harris can't even tell you what a woman is.
(CHEERING)
They only care about empowering themselves. But we have a President who believes in empowering every American and that our country is worth fighting for.
(APPLAUSE)
For the last four years, Republican governors have been leading that fight and doing what Joe Biden refuses to do.
We've deployed the National Guard to the border. We've cracked down on crime and drugs. We cut taxes to give hardworking Americans a break from Bidenflation. And we empowered parents with universal school choice across the country.
(APPLAUSE)
Donald Trump was the very first President in my lifetime to take a hard line against China. And I'm proud to be the first and only governor in the country to kick Communist China off our farmland and out of my state.
(APPLAUSE)
President Trump is a leader.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yeah.
SANDERS: And he's the leader our country needs. And if ever there was a doubt, earlier this week, we saw just how tough, resilient, courageous, and daring this man is that we can't get him back in the White House fast enough.
[22:35:00]
(APPLAUSE)
Ladies and gentlemen, we are not called to stand still in the face of great danger. You and I were put on this earth at a moment in time to charge boldly ahead.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
SANDERS: We cannot know what the future holds, but we know damn sure who holds the future in his hands.
(APPLAUSE)
God spared President Trump from that assassin because God is not finished with him yet.
(APPLAUSE)
And he most certainly is not finished with America yet either.
(APPLAUSE)
With God as our guide and President Trump back in the White House, we will show the world that America is the place where freedom reigns and liberty will never die.
(APPLAUSE)
Ladies and gentlemen, --
CROWD: USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA!
SANDERS: Tonight, let us not leave here just excited about a great few days, but let us leave here energized and committed to making sure that we protect our freedom and we have the ability to pass it on to the next generation because America is the greatest country that the world has ever known and our kids and our grandkids deserve to enjoy it the way each of us did and we will with President Trump back in the White House.
Thank you so much. God bless the great state of Arkansas and the amazing United States of America. Thank you very much. Thank you.
(APPLAUSE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome former United States Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, Dr. Ben Carson.
(APPLAUSE)
BEN CARSON, FORMER UNITED STATES HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT SECRETARY: Thank you. Thank you. Thank you so much. Thank you. You know, Sarah Huckabee always says to me, I hate to follow you, but I think she turned the table on me tonight.
I want to thank you all for being here and for being involved. Like many of you last week, I watched with horror as the events unfolded in that Pennsylvania field. I saw President Trump, a dear friend, escape death by mere inches and my thoughts immediately turned to the book of Isaiah that says no weapon formed against you shall prosper.
(APPLAUSE)
Well, let me tell you the weapons that they used. First, they tried to ruin his reputation and he's more popular now than ever.
(APPLAUSE)
And then they tried to bankrupt him and he's got more money now than he had before.
(APPLAUSE)
And then they tried to put him in prison and he's freer and has made other people free with him.
(APPLAUSE)
And then, and then last weekend they tried to kill him. And there he is over there alive and well.
(APPLAUSE)
[22:40:00]
You know, I have no doubt that God lowered a shield of protection over President Trump.
CROWD: Yes.
CARSON: And I join millions of Americans in thanksgiving for President Trump's safety. And I encourage you to join me in praying each day for his continued protection.
You know, our hearts -- our hearts go out to the victims in the audience. Let's also pray for them and their families. These events have brought unusual clarity to the times we are living in.
We have all harbored the nagging feeling that everything we love is slipping away. All you have to do is turn on the television. The free press, a pillar of any free society, has abused the public trust and resorted to lies, deception, and disinformation.
(BOOING)
They divide us along lines of race, class, and gender, rather than uniting us around our shared bond as Americans. Our government has been no better, shredding our constitution and upending the rule of law. We have a wide-open border, a broken education system, and chaos breaking out around the world.
And on top of it all, we have a president who, well, if you can't say anything good, don't say anything at all.
(APPLAUSE)
But ask anyone around the world, what does it mean to be an American? Most will tell you that it means unlimited opportunity, that where you begin in life doesn't dictate where you will end. That's the America I grew up in, and no other country could a poor inner-city kid raised by a single mom make it to an Ivy League school, then to medical school, become a successful neurosurgeon, run for president, and eventually become a member of the president's cabinet.
(APPLAUSE)
You know, and as a member of his cabinet, I had a chance to work closely with him. And I got to tell you, this is a man who is a gift to us as a nation. He is very gifted, he is very smart, he is very compassionate, he cares about people.
And I'll tell you, the first time I met him was before either of us got into the political arena. And someone, we were at Mar-a-Lago, and someone came up to him and said, Mr. Trump, Rod Stewart just walked in. And he said, I don't care, this is Ben Carson.
(APPLAUSE)
But I feel blessed that I've been able to live the American dream. But my story is moving further out of reach in America today. The lessons my mother taught me, like hard work and the value of well-rounded patriotic education and faith in God above all else, are being forced out of the public square. But we're all here today because we know we can bring these things back.
(APPLAUSE)
By God's grace, we live in a country where the people rule.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
CARSON: We have the power to choose the kind of nation we will be and the kind of men and women that will lead us. And today, the choice could not be more clear. The most repeated
phrase in the bible is this, do not be afraid or fear not. It appears 365 times in scripture, a reminder to live each day with faith, hope, and joy as joyful warriors for Christ.
(APPLAUSE)
And when God is with us, nobody can stand against us. With this assurance from the Almighty, even the face of evil itself cannot shake our resolve. We will keep fighting. We will keep praying. And by the grace of God, we will save our
country and reelect President Trump together with Vice President Vance this November.
And I want you to remember this. In 1831, Alexis de Tocqueville came to America to study our nation because the Europeans were fascinated. They wanted to know how could a nation barely 50 years old already compete with them on virtually every level.
[22:45:04]
So, he looked at our government. He was duly impressed by our checks and balances and separation of powers. And then he looked at our business environment. He was duly impressed by how we encourage entrepreneurship and innovation.
And he looked at our educational system. And he was blown away by the fact that he could find a mountain man in the middle of the woods who could read, who could tell him about the Declaration of Independence.
But the thing that impressed him the most was when he went to our churches and he heard those inspirational sermons from the pulpits that inspired a ragtag bunch of militiamen to defeat the most powerful army in the world and gave the American people a moral base.
(APPLAUSE)
And he concluded his two-volume set, Democracy in America, with these words. He said, America is great because America is good. And if America ever ceases to be good, she will cease to be great.
It is our job to make America good. And let's do this by re-electing President Trump so we can make America great. Thank you very much.
(APPLAUSE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome United States Senator of Florida, Marco Rubio.
(APPLAUSE)
SEN. MARCO RUBIO (R-FL): Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
CROWD: Marco! Marco! Marco! Marco! Marco! Marco! Marco!
RUBIO: Thank you. Thank you. Don't say Polo. Don't say Polo. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
The last few days remind us that the life of every living thing and the breath of all mankind is in the hands of God.
(APPLAUSE)
We were brought to the precipice of the abyss and by the hand of God, reminded of what truly matters in our lives and in our country. This thing we do called politics, it matters. It's not unimportant. But it is our people who must always matter the most in everything we do.
(APPLAUSE)
By giving voice to everyday Americans, President Trump has not just transformed our party. He has inspired a movement.
(APPLAUSE)
A movement, a movement of the people who grow our food and drive our trucks. The people who make our cars and build our homes. The people whose taxes fund our government and whose children fight our wars.
Americans like Corey Comperatore. He was a former fire chief and a loving husband. He was described as the best dad a girl could ever ask for.
As a man of God who loved Jesus fiercely and looked after members of his church. Corey was one of the millions of everyday Americans who make our country great. He wasn't rich. He wasn't famous. And the only reason why we know his name and story now is because last Saturday he shielded his wife and daughter from an assassin's bullet and lost his life the way he lived it. A hero.
(APPLAUSE)
For those still wondering who are in the press and many watching at home, these, these are the Americans who wear the red hats and wait for hours under a blazing sun to hear Trump speak.
[22:50:04]
And what they want, what they ask for, it is not hateful or extreme. What they want is good jobs and lower prices. They want borders that are secure and for those who come here to do so legally. They want to be safe from criminals and from terrorists. And they want for our leaders to care more about our problems here at home and about the problems of other countries far away.
(APPLAUSE)
There is absolutely nothing dangerous or anything divisive about putting Americans first.
(APPLAUSE)
CROWD: USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA!
RUBIO: Those who are offended, anyone who is offended about putting America first has forgotten what American is and what American means. American isn't the color of our skin or our ethnicity. Americans are people as diverse as humanity itself. But out of many, we are one. Because as the life story of our next Vice President, J.D. Vance, reminds us, we are all descendants of ordinary people who achieved extraordinary things.
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Who do we come from? We come from pioneers who ventured west to chase their dreams and slaves who overcame bondage to claim their right to the promise of America. We come from exiles who fled tyranny in search of freedom and of immigrants who left behind all they had and knew because they could not be or achieve God's purpose for their life in the nation of their birth. That is an American.
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And putting Americans first must be what this election is about. When President Trump was in the White House, Americans had more money and lower prices. Our borders were secure and our laws were enforced. Iran was broke. The Taliban stopped killing Americans, and Putin didn't invade anyone.
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Now under Biden, high prices devour paychecks. Criminals and drugs are allowed to flood into our country and terrorize our people. And Iran has money to support terrorists, the Taliban humiliated us in Afghanistan and not one but two major wars have broken out.
My fellow Americans, the only way to make America wealthy and safe and strong again is to make Donald J. Trump our president again.
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Our country has been injured. Injured by the bad decisions of weak leaders. But now, though bloodied by our wounds, we must stand up and we must fight. Fight not with violence or destruction, but with our voices and our votes.
Fight not against each other, but for the hopes and dreams we share in common and make us one. And fight for an America where we are safe from those who seek to harm us on our streets and from abroad.
And we will not be alone in this fight. For leading us in this fight will be a man who, although wounded and facing danger, he stood up and raised his fist and reminded us that our people and our country are always worth fighting for.
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[22:55:00]
It is time. It is time to put our country and our people first again. And if we do, together, we will make our people wealthy again.
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If we do, together, we will make our country safe again.
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Together, we will make Donald Trump our president again.
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And together, we will not just make America great again. We will make America greater than it has ever been.
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Thank you. God bless you.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome Lara Trump.
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LARA TRUMP, RNC CO-CHAIR: Whoa! I don't feel like I actually have to ask this question, but is anybody in this room ready to send Donald Trump back to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue?
(CHEERING)
Well, it may not be a surprise that I actually had a very different speech that I was prepared to give up here tonight.
That all changed at 6-11 on Saturday evening. Nothing prepares you for a moment like that. Our family has faced our fair share of death threats, mysterious powders sent to our homes, tasteless and violent comments directed towards us on social media.
But none of that prepares you as a daughter-in-law to watch in real time someone try to kill a person you love. None of that prepares you as a mother to quickly reach for the remote and turn your young children away from the screen so that they're not witness to something that scars the memory of their grandpa for the rest of their lives.
The prayers and well wishes we've received over the last 72 hours have been overwhelming, to say the least.
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And my heart goes out to the family who lost a husband and a father because of this senseless act. All of you here tonight and watching at home mean the world to all of us in the Trump family.
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If Donald Trump has shown us anything, it's that when it feels impossible to keep going, those are the times we must keep going.
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I don't know how many people here or watching at home have ever been to a Trump rally, but if you've never been, let me tell you about them. Oh, some of you have been. Oh!
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Regardless of how the media have painted these rallies, you would be hard-pressed to find and to join a happier group of people coming together over their love for the greatest country on earth, the United States of America.
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I dare anyone trying to leave a Trump rally without leaving with some new friends. You always make friends at a Trump rally, right? Veterans, teachers, blue-collar workers, white-collar workers, active- duty military, police officers, firefighters, small business owners, Latino supporters, Christian supporters, Jewish supporters, Black supporters, white supporters, Asian supporters, gay supporters, Republicans, independents, and yes, even Democrats.
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[23:00:03]
At a Trump rally, you're not viewed as your profession, your religion, or the color of your skin.
